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Ask Yvette

Dear Yvette,

We have a new puppy, but the veterinarian says we cannot take Sam out until he gets his next set of shots. We do not want to let bad problems start. What do we do over the next 4 weeks? Sam is already sitting on command. But we don’t know where to go from here.

Dianne,

I absolutely agree that it makes no sense to let bad habits set in. Positive is not permissive. However, during your puppy’s first few weeks at home, the focus should not focus on obedience alone.

You can and absolutely should encourage acceptable behavior. You absolutely should not reward puppies for inappropriate behavior. For example, when puppies are small, fuzzy and cute many people cannot resist the urge to pet the pup as it bounces at their kneecaps. As the puppy grows, jumping turns into a nuisance and potentially a danger. The human created the problem by encouraging unwanted behavior. The dog only grew.

Is it not much easier to set guidelines from day one and follow them?

But, when you start with boundaries from the beginning, most obedience falls into place quite nicely. That has very little to do with being stern. It has to do with being consistent. Sadly, with busy schedules consistency is often the first thing that falls out the window. Winter and Christmas puppies are particularly susceptible to inconsistency. Anyone who has had a mid-winter new addition call tell you, it is no picnic housetraining in sub-zero weather.

Where you should focus the bulk of your attention over the next few weeks though is safe socialization. There are plenty of planned strategies you can put into place to get a jump-start on your puppy classes. Socialization is about exposing your puppy to as many novel things as possible. The important part to remember is to look outside of what is normal in your life so you do not overlook key areas.

Young families should take the time to invite elderly people to meet the puppy. If possible expose your puppy to canes, walkers and even wheelchairs. In homes where children are absent, you can schedule additional visits from relatives with children. If most of your acquaintances are of one particular ethnic group, make a point of exposing your puppy to people with different appearances.

Then take the time to expose your puppy to novel sounds. In the winter, sealed homes are often quiet. Look on the internet for sounds like construction, birds, and storms. Websites like www.audiosparx.com can give you plenty of free ideas.

You can also take your puppy for plenty of car rides. Some animals learn to hate car rides because they only go into the car when going to the veterinarian. Get a helper and plan short trips. Park the car and watch traffic pass. Watch children playing.

Finally, in the home, think of interesting and unusual things that your puppy should get to see. Get into those Halloween costumes or perhaps put on a mud facemask. Your puppy does not understand all the crazy things we humans do. So teach him.

Four weeks will pass in no time and soon your veterinarian will give you the thumbs up to go all out. When you get to puppy class you’ll continue with socialization, prevention exercises and obedience.

Yvette is an award winning pet writer and pet behavior columnist. She also is the author of Meeting Milo, a North American dog bite prevention program to reduce the approximately 2 million children bit by dogs annually. She is the owner of AwesomeDogs.ca and works as a behavior consultant in London, Ontario.

This column was originally featured in The Londoner
See more of Yvette... www.awesomedogs.ca
www.meetingmilo.com

Yvette has 2 dogs of her own, KIKI and KAYA. Take a look...

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